Controlling Supply Chains through Joint Regulation: Lessons from Social Regulation Theory

Abstract

Research in management control has largely focused on intra-organizational boundaries. The introduction of an inter-organizational dimension, required by supply chain management, provides a new perspective given the plurality of sources of steering and regulation within a supply chain, both internally and externally. As a regulatory system (Nogatchewsky, 2004), management control can be considered as a space of negotiations, exchanges, multiple interactions, and the collective construction of rules. It is therefore embedded in an interactive process whose purpose is to achieve compromise and to produce a set of rules that stabilize relationships between supply chain actors (Reynaud, 2003). The objective of this paper is to study, in light of Reynaud’s (1996) theory of social regulation, the regulation process related to supply chain management control. Through an exploratory qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews and profile analysis conducted with firms operating in several sectors, the main findings show that regulation is complex and occurs at different levels.

Classification JEL : M42

Paper type : Empirical Research